Sean and Sara Watkins will take the stage at Whelans on August 20 for a headline performance as Watkins Family Hour. After five years, brother-sister duo are releasing a new album this April, fittingly titled brother sister.

With Sean primarily on guitar, Sara on fiddle and shared vocals, the siblings enlisted producer Mike Viola and mixer-engineer Clay Blair to harness the energy and honesty of their live sound.

“From the beginning, our goal was to work on these songs to be as strong as they could be, just the two of us,” Sara explains. “And with a few exceptions on the record, that’s really how things were. It was a tight little group of us, working dense days where we could squeeze them in.”

brother sister begins with “The Cure,” which Sean was inspired to write after watching Tidying Up With Marie Kondo. The lyrics acknowledge the concept of throwing things, along with knowing that you’re in an unhealthy relationship but choosing to avoid fixing it.

Tickets are on sale from 2pm today, Wednesday, March 11.